


Happy Birthday, Nos

by hurry_sundown



Series: The GTO 'verse [2]
Category: due South
Genre: Crack, F/M, GTO 'verse, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-17
Updated: 2013-06-17
Packaged: 2017-12-15 07:13:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/846777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hurry_sundown/pseuds/hurry_sundown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“If you must know, Nos is a woman I occasionally meet up with to write internet porn.  Gay internet porn.  Slash, if you want to be precise.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Birthday, Nos

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday ficlet for Nos, first published on LiveJournal on March 7, 2008.

“So who’s this Nos?”

Ray squinted over my shoulder.

“Just a friend.” I tapped my pen on the tabletop while I considered what else to write besides, _Dear Nos, I wish I were there to celebrate with you._ “Where are your glasses?”

“On the nightstand, I think,” he said absently. “A girl just-a-friend or a guy just-a-friend?” He flipped the card over to the front. There were no clues hidden in the cartoon of Shoebox Maxine telling a dirty joke.

I looked up at him. “Does it matter?”

He was focused on a spot somewhere over the top of my head. “No.”

“You know you’re a shitty liar, right? I don’t know how you do undercover.” Which of course, I’m also a liar, because he was good enough that I was in Chicago every second or third weekend for months before I found out about Ray Vecchio. The actual Ray Vecchio, I mean.

“I was just asking, okay? Jeez, don’t make a thing out of it.” He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms.

“I’m not. You’re the one who was reading my card.”

“Well, excuse me for living in my own apartment.”

Oh, fuck _that_ noise. “If you must know, Nos is a woman I occasionally meet up with to write internet porn. Gay internet porn. Slash, if you want to be precise.”

Ray’s eyes went wide, and he licked his lips. “What, like girl-on-girl?”

“No. That would be femme-slash. We like to write about boys.”

“You’re shittin’ me, right? I mean … you don’t really …” He was cute when he was coming unhinged. “I mean, how do you know what to …”

“Well … I know what _you_ like, right?” He nodded. “So, I kind of, um, extrapolate.”

I could hear the wheels turning. “So when we … and then you and her … Oh my God! You write about what we do? And let other people read it?”

“Don’t stroke out, Ray, it’s not like I’m writing about you and … Dewey. Or whoever.”

Ray leaned over with his hands on his legs and his head down. I might feel faint, too, if somebody mentioned me and Tom Dewey in the same breath.

I got up and filled a glass of water from the tap. “Here, drink this.”

I waited until he took a couple of swallows. “It’s just make-believe, okay? We use characters from TV shows and movies, and we write stories for our friends. Nobody knows any of it’s real.” I mentally crossed my fingers and resolved that he’d never find out about the time Nos and I got hammered on pomegranate martinis and I told her what happened after he got back from the Pirelli bust (we were lucky that gun wasn’t loaded).

Ray’s color was a little better. I took the glass away from him and set it on the counter. “Listen,” I said, putting my arms around him, “Go watch the game for a while. As soon as I finishing writing this card we can go out and do something, okay?”

“Can we stay in and do something?” He gave me that look, the one that always makes my heart beat a little faster. “But you gotta promise me you won’t write about it.”

“Okay. I promise.” I gave him a quick kiss and copped a feel when he turned to go find the remote.

_Dear Nos,_

_I wish I were there to celebrate with you. I quit marking my birthdays a while ago, but at 25 they’re still a good excuse for a party._

_I hope you can make it to con.txt this year. I think we might be asked to read a story at one of the panels. By the way, it may be a while before I can finish that WIP - I’m having some issues with source material. I’m sure it’ll work out eventually._

_Happy Birthday, Nos, and best wishes for many more!_

_Love,_

_HS_


End file.
